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LG announces substantial investment in next gen OLED production

LG Display is one of the major players in the growing OLED display panel business and the company has just announced a major investment to boost future production. LG is to spend KRW 1.84 trillion ($1.59 billion) to begin building a new plant in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, Korea, with production expected to commence in the first half of 2018.

The new manufacturing facility will be known as the P10 plant and will be the size of 14 football fields, reaching 100 meters tall. The P10 plant is expected to cover manufacturing of a wide range of panel sizes and is stated to be used for the production of large OLED panels for the TV market, along with smaller flexible OLED displays for the smartwatch and automotive markets. The first KRW 1.84 trillion covers the basic building of the plant, while LG’s total investment in the new facility is expected to reach more than KRW 10 trillion ($8.71 billion) as production scales up.

OLED is seen as a key investment for LG going forward, as the company looks for ways to continue to differentiate its products from the competition and moves to make its technology more price competitive with rival LCD products. OLED benefits and improvements over LCD displays when it comes to color gamut and power efficiency are expected to fuel growing demand over the next decade. The market is estimated to be worth $29.1 billion by 2022, according to market research firm IHS.

LG had previously announced other notable investments to increase its OLED production capabilities, including KRW 1.05 trillion ($0.91 billion) into a 6th generation flexible OLED display production line at the Gumi Plant in Gyeongbuk Province. Rival OLED manufacturer Samsung has also announced its own plans to boost OLED manufacturing this year and recently sold off LCD manufacturing assets to make room for additional OLED production.

[press]

Seoul, Korea (Nov. 27, 2015) – LG Display, the world’s leading innovator of display technologies, announced today that it will invest KRW1.84 trillion to begin building a new panel plant in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, Korea, with production expected to commence in the first half of 2018.

The company decided on the new plant, known as P10, because of anticipated demand for OLED panels over the next several years. The P10 plant will mainly produce both large-size OLED TV panels and flexible OLED panels for smartwatches and automotive displays.

The KRW1.84 trillion investment covers the construction of the P10 building, the foundations for the clean rooms and infrastructure for water and power supplies and will begin this year. The total investment in the P10 plant is expected to reach more than KRW10 trillion, and with LG Display gradually expanding the scale of the production line based on customer demand and market conditions.

The completed plant will cover an area of 382m x 265m, which is equivalent in size to 14 football fields, and will be 100 meters high. Plans call mostly for the installation of large size OLED lines that will be 9th generation or above along with flexible OLED lines at the new plant. The first production line is scheduled to start mass production in the first half of 2018.

The company is expecting the lines will produce OLED in every product segment, including ultra large-size products as well as future products such as flexible and transparent displays. Dr. Sang Beom Han, CEO and President of LG Display said, “LG Display’s investment in P10 Plant is a historical investment for the industry since it will not only help expand the OLED market but also accelerate the development of future display technologies. With the active support of the Korean government, we believe the P10 plant will become the center of the global OLED industry.”

IHS, the market research firm, forecasts the global OLED panel market will grow to $29.1 billion in 2022 from $8.7 billion in 2014.

TV manufacturers in Korea, China and Japan have already launched OLED TV models and more TV manufacturers in Japan and Europe are expected to adopt OLED TVs in the near future. Demand for flexible OLED panels in the smartwatch and automotive display sectors is also rising because they offer better design flexibility than LCD panels.

LG Display announced in August that it would invest more than KRW10 trillion in expanding production of large-size OLED panels, flexible OLED panels and premium LCDs by 2018. The company has already announced it will invest KRW1.05 trillion in a 6th generation flexible OLED production line in Gumi, Gyeongsangbuk Province. The 6th- generation production line will produce 7,500 sheets per month and is expected to start mass production in the first half of 2017.

###

AMOLED Panel Market Forecast (Revenue / Unit: US$1,000)

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

8,736,090

13,019,587

14,551,829

16,848,996

19,621,122

22,541,623

25,479,724

27,508,481

29,129,251

Source: IHS_OLED Display Market Tracker_Q3 ‘15

About LG Display

LG Display Co., Ltd. [NYSE: LPL, KRX: 034220] is the world’s leading innovator of display technologies including thin-film transistor liquid crystal displays (TFT-LCD), OLEDs and flexible displays. The company manufactures and provides display panels in a broad range of sizes and specifications primarily for use in TVs, notebook computers, desktop monitors, and various other applications including tablets, mobile devices. LG Display currently operates fabrication facilities in Korea and China, and back-end assembly facilities in Korea, China, and Poland. The company has a total of approximately 50,000 employees operating worldwide. For more news and information about LG Display, please visit www.lgdisplay.com

Forward-Looking Statement Disclaimer

This press release contains forward-looking statements. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about our beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current plans, estimates and projections, and therefore you should not place undue reliance on them. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and we undertake no obligation to update publicly any of them in light of new information or future events. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. We caution you that a number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. Additional information as to factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from our forward-looking statements can be found in our filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

Lead Technical Writer at Android Authority, covering the latest trends in consumer electronics and hardware. In his spare moments, you'll probably find him tinkering with audio electronics and programming.